Magnuson Park ballfield plan finds objectors across the lake
When he sent newsletters to each address, 500 homeowners wrote back in support, many sending donations. Horwitz instantly had access to some of the region's most prominent people — people he claims would be willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting in court to stop the development, if it came to that.
"For me it was a complete awakening in local politics," said Horwitz, 41, a New Jersey native who publishes the high-tech magazine Directions on Microsoft.
The objections of Horwitz and others are expected to come to a head in the next few weeks as the Seattle City Council moves toward a final vote on the project at Sand Point Magnuson Park.
Calling itself Eastside Friends of Lake Washington, the lobby group Horwitz and other homeowners formed argues that the 628 lights 2½ miles away — with a total wattage comparable to that of Safeco Field — will light up the sky like a "spaceship landing" or six shopping malls.
Supporters of the ballfield development say that the lights are more dispersed than those at Safeco and that new lighting technology will minimize the glow in the sky. Some look at the Eastsiders as a reactive group with no real stake in the debate.
"I think it's a hysterical overresponse for a pretty insignificant impact on them," said John Feltis, a semi-retired lighting consultant who supports the park plans. With modern directional lights, just 5 percent of the light will "spill" upward and create sky glow, he said, as opposed to 30 percent or more from older or badly designed lighting projects.
The Kirkland homeowners have teamed with an unlikely coalition of opponents, including neighbors of the Seattle park, environmentalists and a group called Dark Skies Northwest, which advocates reducing light pollution to better see the stars.
The Kirkland City Council was blindsided by the issue and didn't get involved in the project's review, but some council members now are taking their concerns directly to their Seattle counterparts.
"It's part of a larger issue," said Kirkland Mayor Mary-Alyce Burleigh. "As we become denser and growth occurs, the problem of light pollution is a real one."
With three new Seattle council members asking their own tough questions, the project seems less certain to proceed as planned than it did just a few months ago. But ballfield advocates have been fighting back, flooding Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and the council with thousands of e-mails.
Plans to develop ballfields on the 330-acre Sand Point Magnuson Park have been around since the 1970s, but the latest plan took shape in 1999. It calls for 11 fields with synthetic turf and overhead lights — five for soccer, five for baseball or softball, one for rugby — as well as four more unlighted grass fields. The lights for some fields could stay on until 11 p.m. Plans also call for restoring wetland and shoreline habitats.
But even if the project is approved by the council, it is unclear how the city's Parks and Recreation department would find the $60 million it is estimated to cost. The department has just $12 million set aside, but parks staff remains enthusiastic.
"We are only meeting a little over half the demand for athletic fields, and these fields would go a long way toward meeting that demand," said Eric Friedli, the park's director. He said he hopes the council approves the plan "as close to what we proposed as possible." The plan finds a balance between many competing interests and has been approved only after rigorous review, he said.
Friedli said the city notified all nearby residents it believed could expect significant impacts from the project. That didn't include people across the lake.
Horwitz argues that the project concerns the whole region. "When you see what's happened on the East Coast with really poor industrialization and urban planning, you feel strongly that you don't want it to happen here," he said.
Yet even as opponents and supporters appear deeply divided, there may be room for compromise. Some ballfield advocates are talking about accepting earlier light curfews, while some neighbors and Eastsiders say they could live with a plan that includes fewer lighted fields.
Many involved in the dispute are looking to Seattle Councilman David Della, who chairs the Parks, Neighborhoods and Education Committee, as someone who could broker a deal. Earlier this month, Della met with 12 representatives from many sides of the debate. The Eastside group was not invited.
"I wanted a dialogue to winnow down the issues, and that is essentially what I did," Della said. He said the four areas of remaining concern are: the impact and hours of the lights, the increase in traffic, the number of synthetic fields, and issues surrounding the wetlands. He added that he is focused on the project's potential effects on Seattle rather than on the Eastside.
"By the end of May we want to get it all wrapped up," Della said. "We want to make sure we have something that works for all of us."
Nick Perry: 206-515-5639 or nperry@seattletimes.com
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